Chef Juliette
John Dory (St. Pierre)
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Broiled Salmon
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 785, Broiled Salmon, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Saumon grillé proves that rich fish wants two fires: fierce heat for a bronzed surface, gentler heat for a succulent center, then a melting coin of maître d’hôtel or anchovy butter.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
Saumon grillé teaches one true thing about rich fish: color and doneness need different heats. A brisk fire bronzes the buttered surface; gentler heat carries that warmth to the center without drying it. The change of heat is not a convenience. It is the dish.
The original kitchen assumed a grillman tending brisk and moderate zones over the same fire, with thick salmon slices cut for a large service. Your overhead broiler and two rack positions are the honest home equivalent. Four center-cut steaks replace the brigade platter, and the prepared compound butter waits beside the stove rather than becoming another job while the fish cools. The grill station was scaffolding; thick slices and two-stage heat must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, the salmon arrives bronzed at the edges, moist and coral within, with Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel or anchovy butter slipping into every warm seam. Before you touch the broiler pan, remember the step that decides everything: as soon as the surface has real color, moderate the heat.
Saumon grillé belongs to the classical Parisian dining-room table, where salmon arriving from the Loire, the Adour, and Atlantic fisheries met the fierce grill and rich, sharp accompaniments. The preparation passed easily into bourgeois home cooking because its luxury lay in the fish rather than a long-built sauce: salt, butter, controlled heat, and one finished adjunct were enough. Broiling does not change its intent; close overhead heat gives the home cook the radiant fire once managed over a professional grill, provided that fire is moderated for the finish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
center-cut salmon steaks
Quantity
4 steaks, each 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 cm) thick and 7 to 8 ounces (200 to 225 g), about 1¾ to 2 pounds (800 to 900 g) total
fine table salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
melted
prepared Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel or anchovy butter
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 56 g)
chilled and cut into 4 coins
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| center-cut salmon steaks | 4 steaks, each 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 cm) thick and 7 to 8 ounces (200 to 225 g), about 1¾ to 2 pounds (800 to 900 g) total |
| fine table salt | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| unsalted buttermelted | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| prepared Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel or anchovy butterchilled and cut into 4 coins | ¼ cup (60 ml / 56 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Broiler-safe rimmed pan with rack
- •Broad fish spatula
- •Pastry brush
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Oven mitts for moving the hot pan between rack positions
Instructions
- 1
Prepare two heat zones
Set one oven rack 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) below the broiler and a second rack 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) below it. Heat the broiler on high for 10 minutes. Line a broiler-safe rimmed pan with foil, set its rack in place, and brush the rack lightly with a little of the melted butter. These two rack positions replace the brisk and gentler parts of the old grill.
- 2
Dry and butter
Pat the salmon steaks thoroughly dry, especially along the cut faces. Wet salmon cooks pale, while a dry surface lets the butter and fierce heat make the bronze crust this preparation promises. Season every face with the salt, brush both sides with the remaining melted butter, and arrange the steaks on the rack with space between them.
Season only when the broiler is ready. Salt left sitting on the fish draws moisture back to the surface, which undoes your careful drying. - 3
Color over brisk heat
Place the pan on the upper rack and broil for 4 to 6 minutes, watching closely, until the upper faces are richly golden with bronze beginning at the edges. Turn each steak carefully with a broad fish spatula and broil the second face for 3 to 5 minutes, just until it takes the same color. Do not wait for the center to cook during this stage; the brisk fire has one job, and that job is browning.
- 4
Moderate the fire
As soon as both faces are colored, reduce the broiler to low or move the pan to the lower rack. Continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness and the force of your broiler. If the outside darkens before the center is ready, ça se rattrape: move the pan to the lower rack at once, change the oven to 325°F (165°C), and finish the steaks in that gentler surrounding heat. Never leave them close to the fierce element merely because the clock says so.
Broilers cycle and vary enormously. Judge the first stage by color and the second by the center, not by one rigid cooking time. - 5
Test the center
Begin checking after about 14 minutes of total cooking. Insert an instant-read thermometer horizontally into the thickest flesh without touching the central bone. Remove the salmon at 136 to 140°F (58 to 60°C) for a moist, just-opaque center; the temperature will rise slightly as it rests. For anyone who requires fully cooked fish, verify 145°F (63°C) before serving. A full 1½-inch (4 cm) slice over well-moderated heat may need the entry’s allowance of about 25 minutes, but thinner steaks and stronger broilers finish sooner.
- 6
Finish with butter
Transfer the salmon to a warm platter and immediately set one coin of Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel or anchovy butter on each steak. Rest for 3 minutes, just long enough for the butter to soften, gleam, and run into the warm flakes. Serve while the surface remains bronzed and the butter is still pooling. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for center-cut salmon steaks of equal thickness, sometimes called darnes. Thin tail pieces will be dry before they color, while thick crosscut steaks give the two-stage fire time to do its work.
- •Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel gives the rich fish lemon and parsley freshness; anchovy butter makes the finish deeper and more savory. The source also offers devilled sauce Escoffier as a sharper accompaniment. Choose one adjunct and serve it generously, not all three at once.
- •White beads of albumin on the salmon mean the center is contracting under excessive heat. Moderate the fire immediately. A few beads do no harm, but a heavy white crust warns that the fish is drying.
- •A dry white Burgundy has enough body for the salmon and butter without overwhelming either. With anchovy butter, a mineral Chablis is particularly good.
- •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 2 days. Serve them cold or warm them very gently in a covered low oven; a second visit beneath the broiler will dry them.
Advance Preparation
- •Have the Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel or anchovy butter prepared and chilled before heating the broiler. Cut it into four equal coins so the finish takes seconds while the fish rests.
- •The salmon can be portioned and kept uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. This dries the surface helpfully; season and brush with melted butter only when the broiler is hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 170g)
Calories
450 calories
Total Fat
34 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
140 mg
Sodium
750 mg
Total Carbohydrates
0 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
34 g
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